Behold, he is with me and I will bring him before you,
with his sword and buckler in his hands." "If I be safe from thy
wrath," replied Masoureh, "I am not safe from that of thy father,
and when I see him, I shall sign to the knights to take him
prisoner, and we will carry him, bound and abject, to the King."
When she heard this, she said, "The thing shall not pass thus,
for it would be a disgrace. This man is but one and ye are a
hundred. So, an ye be minded to attack him, come out against him,
one after one, that it may appear to the King which is the
valiant amongst you." "By the Messiah," rejoined Masoureh, "thou
sayest sooth, and none but I shall go out against him first!"
Then she said, "Wait till I go to him and tell him and hear what
he says. If he consent, it is well but if he refuse, ye shall not
anywise come at him, for I and my damsels and all that are in the
house will be his ransom." So she went to Sherkan and told him
the case, whereat he smiled and knew that she had not betrayed
him, but that the matter had been bruited abroad, till it came to
the King, against her wish. So he laid all the blame on himself,
saying, "How came I to venture myself in the country of the
Greeks?" Then he said to her, "Indeed, to let them tilt against
me, one by one, were to lay on them a burden more than they can
bear. Will they not come out against me, ten by ten?" "That were
knavery and oppression," replied she.
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